


Every reality, Every romance, Every regret

by pocketramblr



Category: Voltron Force, Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: BUT THAT WONT STOP ME, F/M, I cant write romance, Multiple Realities, also my headcanon for vld romelle, i will go down with this dumb ship, i wrote this instead of writing other things, just in love in every reality, not quite soulmate au, or at least the other reality romelle, stupid fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-21 10:36:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14283093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocketramblr/pseuds/pocketramblr
Summary: "In every Reality where there is a Sven, there is a 72% chance there is a Romelle in the same general time/space area. In these Realities, there is a 94.8% they are in love. That is not all- in these Realities, there is a 53% that both of you wont admit it for one reason or another, and a 77% that at least one of you wont. Now do you see why my life is so frustrating?"- Slav, in at least one reality. This story looks through some of those realities, and on the Svens and Romelles that fall in love and, after much, much cajoling, admit it.Chapter 1- Guns of Gamara Reality Part 1Chapter 2- '84 Voltron RealityChapter 3- Guns of Garmara Reality Part 2Chapter 4- Voltron Force Reality Part 1Chapter 5- Voltron Force Reality Part 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so the idea for how Akira Kogane is in this reality came for Edorazzi's idea, which i'll link at the end BECAUSE HER ART IS AMAZING and you should look at it.  
> Romie and Isamual are my interpretations of what Romelle/Amue and Lance/Kurogane Isamu are in the Guns of Gamara Reality. Isamuel is pronounced "Is-sam-you-el" and his nickname is Sammy.

Reality Designation VNV-610-62 (Part 1)

* * *

 

Sven and Slav jetted into the ship that would take them to the ever-mobile headquarters of the Guns of Gamara. As the door closed behind them, a familiar voice called from the cockpit.

“So, it went well, I take it?”

“Better than that, Romie.” Sven called happily. “Though, I am going to have a hard time to get the Chief to believe what happened.

“Sit down, Sven! Romelle, get us out of here fast! Now, there is a reality where he believes immediately,” Slav added. “But it is not that one. Perhaps it is the one our new friends were from?”

“Maybe.” Sven shrugged. “But I’m pretty sure we won’t see them again.”

“No, though I suspect they have at least a 63% chance of seeing their friend again- or someone like him.” Slav took off his helmet, then bounced across the room to put it in his cabinet on the ceiling- the guns couldn’t afford to equip their smaller ships with artificial gravity.

“That last one didn’t refer to me, did it?”

“No, no- Oh, Sit Down! - from their reality.”

“Oh, alright then.”

“What the quiznac are you guys talking about?” Romie asked, annoyed.

“You aren’t going to believe it either, you know.” Sven teased as he sat down in the co-pilots chair.

Romie, a woman with curly hair tied back in a ponytail and crystal blues eyes, cut him a very dirty look that belied- or perhaps, attested to- her childhood home before looking back out the windows.

“Not if you don’t tell me, Holgersson.”

“Fine, _din høyhet_.” Sven smiled, before wincing a bit. Then he gasped and slumped forward in his chair.

“One day you’re going to tell me what that means, Sv- are you ok?” she asked, turning to look at him.

“Oh, I was trying to tell you first.” Slav said, floating up to the front of the cockpit. “Sven really ought to be taken to a hospital. He was shot in the stomach.

“What!?!?” Screeched Romie, eyes wide. “And you two didn’t tell me immediately? Oh my-“ she let into a string of curses, in at least four different languages, and some words Slav didn’t even know. The general gist was that Sven was an idiot for getting hurt, and doubly an idiot for not telling her first thing, and Slav was triple an idiot- as well as a horrible friend - for forgetting that injury. That was before she went on a tangent about other mistakes the two had made, and which black holes and death worlds she would just love to stick them on. They managed to get her to stop before she got to exploring various mistakes their parents had made, at least.

“Calm down, Romelle!” Slav finally broke in. “The shot I gave him made him forget a lot of short term things- but I had to give it to him if we didn’t want him bleeding out on us. The pain killers seem to be slowly wearing off-“

“Slowly?” Gasped Sven, who was now clutching his chest, eyes watering.

“Yes, it will get worse.” Slav said matter-of-factly, before sighing. “But he should be good without additional care for, oh, three to six hours before it becomes critical again.”

“Three to six hours? Slav, you think you can narrow it down to a more specific time for me?” Romie asked as she quickly charted a new course for some hospital not controlled by the Alteans.

“No. It completely depends on how his body metabolizes it, and I don’t have a base for how long that will take him.” Slav studied the groaning man. “Hmm. It would probably be closer to seven or eight hours if you had a metal arm or two, you know? As long as the prosthetics weren’t fueled by quintessence at least.”

“Not helpful, dude.” Romie said while Sven groaned something along the line of “Oh, sure, sorry for not having weird robot arms”

“You asked.” Slav shrugged three pairs of arms.

“I guess I did.” She sighed. “Alright, I can get to a hospital on Ebb in about three and a half to four hours, you think you can make it that long?” She asked Sven, whom Slav was moving from his seat to a bench in the back.

“He has good chances. Lots of sleep, water and nutrients could stretch out his time, but eating could result in negative reactions to the medicine and the surgery.”

“Surgery?” Sven asked.

“Hmm, yeah. Just, give him water and sleep then.” Romie agreed.

“Are we equipped with any IV bags?” Slav asked.

“IV?” Sven was getting more and more confused.

“Check in here.” The pilot stretched out her left leg and kicked open a compartment in the wall.

“Only an IV and tube, but we can attach a ration bag of water.” Slav muttered as he bounced around preparing things, strapping Sven down, and generally worrying. “Though, it will be easier if he is unconscious.”

“Then knock him out.” Romie shrugged with forced casualness.

“Knock me- Wait. Oh, I saw Sammy again, Ro! I always wanted to- oh.” He trailed off and she assumed Slav had used the right pressure in the right place to make him sleep.

As the many legged alien drifted in, putting away the tools, Romie swallowed.

“What was he saying? About Sammy?”

“Oh, Yeah. I guess that guy- Lance?- reminded him of Isamuel. Perhaps he would be him, in this reality.” Slav muttered to himself in the voice Romie recognized as him storing a theory away. Then he straightened and answered her.

“We were not exaggerating when we said it was unlikely you would believe us. You know the strange comet that’s a source of energy we were told to obtain or destroy?”

“Yes, I saw it when I dropped you two off. Made a strange, glowing vortex that wasn’t a teleduv’s portal?”

“That’s the one. It seems that was coming from the comet being halfway between this reality and another. The portal was a gateway between them. The only thing that can apparently go through is the comet or things made of it.”

“Alright. But I saw that your bombs went off and the energy signature vanished.”

“Yes. A group of people came in through a ship made of the same material as the comet. They were… very different, yet eerily similar. It appears that they were looking for their friend- who looks like Sven. They called him Shiro- and they apparently know that reality’s version of me.”

“Well. That was not what I expected.”

“No. One of them was also, ah, Altean.”

Her breath caught. “Oh?”

“Not just any Altean- and you are going to need to take a deep breath before I tell you who. Actually, take your hands off the controls too, there is a 17 % chance that you-“

“Slav.” Romie snapped. “Tell. Me.”

“Right. Well, in that reality, the Galran-Altean war ended differently. The Glara won and took over the universe. The people we met were a group of rebels trying to take it back. One of them was a version of Allura.”

Romie gasped, her hands covering her mouth. “The… The Empress?” she willed herself not to cry. The makeup just under her eyes was waterproof, but she didn’t want to risk it, not even if Slav probably knew already.

“She’s still just a princess, it would seem. But yes, her.”

“The others… Well, I suppose one did have a slight resemblance to Chief Kogane, but one did look a lot like Isamuel.”

Romie had never had the chance to meet the man, but she knew that he had been a good friend of both the Chief and Sven. He had apparently died to save Sven, and her friend has shown her a few precious pictures he had of his late friend.

“How did he take that? Seeing Sammy, or something like him, again?”

“Much better than I expected. In 85% percent of realties were this happens, he breaks down almost immediately.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

“But he did not break at all, not really. He didn’t say a thing about it. He didn’t act any different. The bombing and trap went well, and we were all about to escape so they could take the comment back with them to their reality. But then…” Slav sighed, twiddling some fingers. “they shot at Isa- Lance. And Sven jumped in front of him.”

“Of course, he did.” Romelle couldn’t stop the tears from falling now. Isamuel used to be one of the three chiefs, the heads of the Guns. Akira Kogane was one, and Genzan Strahm was the other. Then Geoffry Singh replaced Sammy. It was general knowledge among the Guns that Sven had been a candidate but wasn’t chosen. Only Romie and a few others knew why- he had refused the offer.

“That stupid man.” She shook her head, trying to focus back on piloting.

“You don’t mean that. Why do you lot say things you don’t mean? I mean, when you aren’t trying to lie? And there is a 99% probability you aren’t even trying to convince yourself of that-“ Slav wondered.

“I’m not- no. He is an idiot, jumping in front of someone he doesn’t know, possibly dying in the process.”

“Hm, maybe. Except that the ships these strangers flew connected and had to all be in use to push the comet out of this reality. If their blue soldier died, they would not be able to do that.”

“Right.” Romie snorted.

“Yes, that is probably exactly how Sven justified it to himself after doing it, isn’t it?” Slav asked, a bit amused.

“Oh, I am 99% sure.” Romie joked.

* * *

 

 “Here are Sven’s reports, Chief. He should be healed enough to move him off Ebb in four days.” Romie said, handing the edisk with the mission’s files on it to the man.

“Thanks, Romie.” Chief looked at them, then slid them into his compdesk.

Chief Akira Kogane was a tall man, though not unusually so- shorter than Sven, definitely. He had long black hair that curled a bit, and wore a typical Guns uniform, but with red accents to show his rank. He also had red crescent marks underneath his eyes that he was currently working on painting makeup over. She was one of the few people who was allowed to know about his heritage, just like he knew about hers.

Romie had already covered her marks this morning and could pass for human well. Both she and Kogane lacked the pointed ears of the race, though for vastly different reasons. He was at least half human, and she was… not fully Altean either.

Couldn’t tell you what she was, mind, but she knew it was unnatural. Empress Allura had always been trying different experiments to create, well, something. An heir, or a family, or a memory of her old family before the war 10,000 years ago, or a very devoted cult… whatever her end goals was, Romelle was a clone, partially made with her majesty’s DNA. Her skin was the same shade, but her hair had come out all yellow instead. The strangest part was her two-toned marks- they were a bit more pointed than normal marks and were two-toned- splotches of pink and blue. She had only seen one other person with two colors, but Avok had one blue mark and one yellow one, both the normal shape. Unc- Er, Sincline had marks more jagged than her, but were a normal purple. She wondered a bit cynically if the new kid's would stay that pale shade of blue, but she figured she'd never know. She wasn't ever going back to that place. it hadn't ever really been her home, they hadn't ever really been her family. it helped if she kept telling herself that. She was no goo to wonder what he'd be named.

The Empress had named her after a cousin she had, long ago when she was truly alive, and maybe not even a monster.

“So, Alternate realties, huh?

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Apparently.”

“Not bad though, you got to Ebb in, what, three and a quarter hours?”

“Yep.” She popped the ‘p’. “Honestly, Chief, I don’t know if I can add much to the story, and I’m not sure what I think of it. It’s kinda crazy, and I was just the getaway pilot.”

“Yeah.” He put the makeup brush in a pouch sitting on the small table by his bed, before skimming the files.

After a minute he spoke up again.

“Can… Can you imagine? A universe where the Alteans were all the good guys, and not the evil empire? Almost wish I could have seen these guys.”

“I’m kind of glad I didn’t, Chief.”

He looked up at her, surprised.

“If… If I saw someone who just stood there and looked like my… like the Empress, I might have tried to kill her on the spot.”

He nodded once, thinking it over, before turning back to read. “It kind of looks like Sven did jump out and try to kill them immediately. Apparently, their armor was very similar, or identical, to armor used by the army in our universe.”

“Reality, actually.” Romie corrected absently. “Er, sorry. Slav was very insistent on the differences between the two. They were not from a different universe or dimension, but reality.”

Chief hummed absently as he kept reading. Then the weight of what he said hit her. Wait, Sven had tried to what?

She choked, and he laughed. “Yeah, I was wondering when you would realize. Apparently, he recognized the Not-Empress as either a Royal or an important alchemist- white hair and all- and that would explain it.”

“Ye-yeah.” Romie nodded, pulling herself together. “Letting the comet fall into their hands would be worse than a minor officer, they would be harder to intercept and retrieve or attack full on if things went south.” Sven normally wasn’t a shoot-first kind of guy, at least not on these kinds of missions. And if he needed too, he usually took the sniping route. Hmm, maybe Slav was wearing off on him? That guy was very practical, and hated Alteans even more than most of the Guns.

“Yeah, and that’s how he justified it after the fact too, heh.” Chief laughed a little bit, then sighed. “You know, you two are harder to deal with than other people who get like this. Usually you just tell them to get over it or to shack up together a few times, then put them on different missions, then different posts.” He sent her a light glare, then grinned. “But I can’t do that with you two, can I?” rolling his eyes, he went back to reading.

“What?” Romie had no idea what he was talking about. “What? Are you talking about me? Or Sven, or Sl- wait. Wait, no. No no no, that’s not. Sven and I- no. That’s just crass, Chief Kogane, and I- you, no.”

“Suuuure, Romie. Look, you and Sven are both my friends, and y’all are too valuable to be getting distracted by each other like a couple of new recruits with their first crush.”

“I- I got to Ebb faster than I should, so I don’t see anything to complain about.” She squared her shoulders, letting her panic turn to the familiar bearing of feigned righteous indignation. “I don’t know what you mean about Sven, he was quite distracted by someone else on this mission, if you would finish reading. Or maybe just when you get to Slav's personal notes and thoeries, I don’t know.” She had only skimmed the rest of the report when she added her part- travel times, hospital costs, and damage estimates.

Chief raised an eyebrow. “Ooohhhkay then. You will tell me exactly who he did get distracted by this time, and I will remind you that the way he’s been too trigger happy recently happens to line up with your most recent capture and infiltration mission, a couple months ago. You know, when you were in a pod for a week? Sven probably didn’t sleep ten hours the whole time. And while your flying times always improve when you go for him, you tend to stay closer than normal and write much worse reports.”

She opened her moth, then closed it again. He was right, as much as she hated to admit it- and she did hate to admit it. She nodded mutely, eyes down. Akira had done so much to help her, and here she was, risking missions because she had the hots for his oldest friend.

Wait, did he imply it was mutual?

“Yeah, so, could you two just…” He waved his arm, “I don’t know, get that figured out. I don’t mind if y’all do stay together or don’t or whatever in between, but it would be great if you two communicate and stop acting so reckless. Anyway, you said Sven was distracted by something else?”

“Uh, yeah. Slav said that the empress wasn’t the only one with an alternative space twin. Uh, I think he said one of them kind of looked like you, and one reminded him of someone else. But, uh, therewasonewholookedlikeisamuelandthatswhosvenjumpedinfrontofwhenhegotshot.” She said in a rush.

The Chief leveled a look at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Um, what was that last part, Romie?”

She sighed. “There was an alternative version of Isamuel. He- that’s who Sven was saving when he got shot. Slav said he jumped in front of him.”

He dropped the empty edisk case he had been holding, mouth agape. He didn’t try to pick it up.

“Yeah.”Romie muttered, looking down awkwardly.

“Oh.” He looked away, digging through the bag for the spay though would keep the make-up on all day. He fumbled with the lid, shaking visibly from the chair Romie was lounging in.

“Oh.” His eyes looked like they were swimming. She wished he would sit down.

“Mm-hmm.” How should she help him through this? He was her friend, one of few, but she really wasn’t good at… genuine emotion. Sometimes it seemed like nothing much had changed in six years.

“Oh.” He repeated again, and his voice cracked a little. Romie imagined his heart might have, too. He swallowed thickly, then nodded to himself.

“Yeah, that would do it. Um, and that whole team… the other one who liked like… Like Isamuel…. They all got out all right? Went to their home reality?” He struggled with it but didn’t seem close to tears anymore.

“Yes.” She could help with that, a small bit of good news. At least, she hoped it was good. “All of them, safe. And, the other you, too.”

He smiled a little bit, then let it fall. Not into a grimace to hold back tears, but closer to his normal, strong face. “Not the other me- just someone like me. And not him, either. Just someone like him. But they still have each other, which is good.”

“Yeah. And given that they recognized Sven, someone like him, too.” She smiled.

“Oh, good.” He turned back, picked up and started on the report again, back straight now, and not shaking. “Oh, they said there was someone who looked like Her, but maybe it wasn’t a version of her, but...” he looked over his shoulder at her, judger her reaction. She frowned, confused, then gasped at what he was implying.

“A-a… you think maybe I looked kinda like that in that universe?”

“I just thought it made much more sense for you to be part of our- er, their- group than her.”

She nodded slowly, thinking about the implications of that. “So, in that universe… I might not be a failed clone?”

Oh, the things she could say here, in front of him. Because he already knew, just like she knew things about him. But that- she had never said it in front of anyone, not even Sven. Especially not Sven, she chided herself.

“Or like, she’s in disguise for some reason. Or she’s not a clone, but an actual relative.” He said quickly.

“Maybe. Maybe- could I have a copy of that?” She pointed to the mission’s file. “Uh, just for reference.”

“Course.” He tossed it to her, motioning to the computer in the corner. “You can make a temp copy of it here, and if you need to keep it-“

“No, no. just… I want to look it over once or twice.” She quickly copied it onto another edisk and tossed it back to him. He nodded, waving her out. She left him to his thoughts and reports, and headed to her room to get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the image that inspired how Akira Kogane ended up in this reality:  
> http://edorazzi.tumblr.com/post/164038191005/guns-of-gamara-akira-working-on-his-regular
> 
> and here is another great post from her AU, which isnt in my fic, i put him in a cross between uniforms and think he's much more controlled, like GoLion Chief, but its good art and you should look at it.  
> http://edorazzi.tumblr.com/post/163920901990/after-svens-appearance-i-said-i-wanted-lance-to


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now a brief break as we look into V84 Sven's mind and meetings with Bandor.  
> (Psst, yeah, the blue marked kid Romie mentioned in the last chapter is Bandor, but that's too sad to focus on so lets look at Handsome Pilot in Love with Princess, Little Brother must get Involved Somehow.)

CHAP 2- Reality Designation VAV-891-14

“I’ve told you, your highness, I… It would never work out between your sister and I.”

“And why not?” the young man, a boy really, asked.

“She is a princess, and I am just a pilot.” Sven sighed. He had explained this to Prince Bandor multiple times before, but the child just didn’t get it.

“Sven. That doesn’t matter, and I can prove that you don’t actually think it either.” Bandor said smugly.

“Oh?” This was a new tactic of the prince, who usually just kept hitting the point until Sven found an excuse to send him away. The prince was a remarkable soldier, but his politician training was… significantly less further along.

“Yes. Do you remember last week, when Allura and the rest of her team visited us?”

“Ja.” Where was he going with this?

“Do you remember how Commander Kogane was late to leave, because he was picking flowers?”

“Ja, he wanted to give them to Princess Allura.” Sven snickered a little bit at remembering the image of his friend, covered in mud and water. The visiting princess had mentioned during an outing that she really liked the flowers that grew by the river. Keith had waited until the morning of their departure to go pick some for her, but was startled by a few native polluxxi insects, which had leapt out at him. He fell into the river, and came rushing up to the landing dock a mess, but proudly holding a bunch of the pretty blue flowers.

“Yeah.” Bandor giggled. “And remember how Romelle said it looked like they liked each other, but didn’t even know the liked each other?”

“Ja. What is your point, Princeling?”

“My point is, do you think they like each other?”

“It was pretty obvious, Highness.”

“And, if they ever realize it, do you think they should start to pursue a relationship? Or at least try to?”

Sven didn’t even hesitate. “Of course.” Then he realized he had walked right into that one. He was almost proud that the kid was learning so well, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about being his first target for his new ‘diplomatic’ training. He definitely knew it was supposed to help him negotiate treaties and trade agreements, not cajole people about their love life. Or lack of it. “Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh.’ If you’d be fine with Allura, a princess, dating Keith, a pilot, then why not Romelle and you?”

“It isn’t the same thing, Prince Bandor.”

“Yes it-“

“No. it is not.” Sven cut him off. “Keith isn’t just a pilot, he’s the flyer of the Black Lion, and the Head of Voltron itself! I’m…. I’m just a coward, a failure. I failed Voltron, don’t you understand?”

“No, I don’t understand!” The child prince stomped his foot. “I- You-Ok. Right now, if you had the opportunity, would you push Keith into one on one combat with Hagar? Armed with only a sword?”

“What? Are you crazy? Of course I would not do that?” Sven was aghast. “Why would you even ask that?”

“Because you seem pretty convinced that Keith would win, and why not get rid of Hagar before the ugly old witch does any more damage.”

“What? I have never said any of that!”

“Oh, you didn’t?” Prince Bandor asked. “So then, you think Keith is a failure too, but it’s alright since he failed at being Black’s pilot instead of Blue’s? I’m sure my cousin would be so happy to hear that.”

“No, no! I- What are you saying?”

“I am saying,” Prince Bandor said slowly, as if he was the one speaking to someone much younger than him, “That either you consider Keith to be a failure just like you, because a super powered witch could beat a man with a sword one on one, or you don’t think you are a failure for being that unlucky guy she targeted. You’re just scared of telling Romelle how you feel and are trying to find flimsy excuses!”

“I- I…”

Bandor waited for him to say something, but when it was clear the man didn’t have anything to say, he continued. “The real question, Sven, is: ‘why are you so afraid of making my sister so happy?’”

Sven just shook his head. “That not what I am afraid of, princeling.”

“Then what? Are you afraid she will reject you? Sven, you have to be able to see it- she’s crazy for you!”

“That’s not it either. It’s complicated Bandor. I- even if your sister feels that way, she shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because!” Sven said, his accent thickening as he got louder. “Because she deserves better than me, not because she’s a princess, but because she is who she is. Kind, brave, smart, the second most stubborn woman I know, the most beautiful one, and just- just incredible. And I’m just me. Not the best pilot, not the worst. Not the most handsome, not the ugliest. Not the most stupid man in the galaxy, but one of them.” He groaned, dropping his face into his hands. “I’m sorry, your highness. That was… an uncalled-for outburst.” Sven tugged at his hair, trying to think. “But… but that doesn’t mean its untrue. So, so yeah. That’s why it won’t ever work out. That’s why it can’t ever work out, because… because it wouldn’t last- I would mess up, or fail her, or- or I might be a casualty, and then it would hurt her so much more. Aurg, I would hurt her so much when I fail, Bandor. Maybe even be used to hurt her on purpose, you know Hagar, and I- I can’t risk that. Not that, not her.”

Bandor’s eyes, wide from the outburst, began to prick with tears. He shook his head, trying to clear it.

It didn’t work. Tears beginning to fall, he began to sob. “Sven- Sven, I-“

The pilot spun, concern already taking over, and was almost knocked over by the boy, who threw himself around his waist. Stunned, he carefully laid his arms around the crying prince.

“Bandor, please, what’s wrong?” He asked, taken aback.

“You- you idiot!” the prince said between gasps and tears. “What- Sven, what would it ta-ake for you to see- to see how much you love each-each other?”

Sven didn’t answer, just slowly patted Bandor’s shoulders. He wondered at the boy being so impassioned about this, he didn’t think he or any of his classmates at the academy had wanted to talk about love and relationships at that age (or even now, to be honest). Of course, they had not been orphan princes co-ruling an entire planet with their last remaining family member, who they loved dearly, at twelve. The war hadn’t even started then, they did not think they would die in space battles but explore new galaxies and have planets named after them. Soon, the young man calmed down, and broke away from Sven, leaning over the fence around the porch.

“So, did’ja see the new line of starfighter the alliance just ok-d for the midiron sector?” he asked, trying to switch the topic. Sven went along with it, and the two chatted about half an hour about various alliance news, ships, and racing outcomes. He almost thought the boy had gotten over the painful conversation when he stretched, checked the time, and said he had to go back to the castle.

But then Bandor turned. “Sven?”

“Ja?”

“Just one more thing, really. Just imagine the man you think Romellle should fall for- her best option, all these things better than you or whatever. Do you think he would think he deserves her?”

Sven couldn’t answer that- wouldn’t. The answer that came immediately to his mind had been ‘of course he wouldn’t’ but it had caught in his throat as his mind realized what Bandor had meant, and his heart had stopped the answer, tried to bury it deep down, deep enough the answer couldn’t sting and fester, couldn’t hurt or ruin anything. Not anything but himself, anyway, he thought remorsefully as Bandor rode off, and Sven turned, to watch the setting sun.

Because of course someone who was prefect for Romelle wouldn’t think he deserved her- because the perfect one for her would have to realize how amazing she was. Bandor, as young as a rascal as he was, knew that Sven knew that, and that Sven would catch his meaning. “What if you are the person perfect for Romelle, but you don’t realize it because her perfect match wouldn’t think he deserved her?”

Sven honestly gave it a bit of thought as he headed inside to put together some kind of dinner. Perhaps, he allowed himself, he was truly a good match for her- not perfect, but good enough. But that didn’t make sense, only perfect was good enough for her. But on the other hand…

Alright, to be honest, he had to admit he was a good pilot, a great one even. He had to admit he was fairly smart, and pretty clever. And apparently, he thought wryly, too humble for his own good. Alright, being painfully honest with his traits, did he think a man at the same level might be a good, deserving match for Romelle.

Yes. He groaned out loud. But! His mind quickly added- not with your bad traits mixed in! You were crazy, a wild man for months. That did things to you, messed you up even after you had physically healed. Yes, he thought bittersweetly- no matter how good his other traits were, a broken madman simply never could deserve the Princess.

Then he thought about how strong Romelle was, how she had been the one to draw him from his madness in the caves. And how she hadn’t cared about that at all.

Of course she wouldn’t. She was just too good.

Ug, thinking about this shouldn’t be more confusing, more maddening, than running around the caves of Doom, searching for any light, any way out.

Which, of course, had been her.

He tried very, very hard not to think of her face, her soft hands pressing a dagger into his rough ones. “Where ever you go, my heart will be with you.” She had said. That dagger had ended up saving them all- not by being shoved into Lotor’s chest, as he would have hoped- but it still destroyed that monster’s weapon.

Sven stopped trying to pretend he was looking around his kitchen cupboards, and walked into the other room, flopping face-down on the couch.

Had she known? Known that one of the reasons he was so anxious to destroy Lotor wasn’t just because of his being injured, or enslaved, or even being driven mad? Has she known that another reason, as vital or more so than the others, was that it was because that piece of purple scum had dared to touch her? To hurt her and call her his own, to actually say he loved her? Because he had marked her with a brand, just as Sven and the other slaves had been branded? Did she know that when Sven had thrown himself onto the bastard of a prince, and both of them off the edge, that he had been thinking that she and his friends would finally be safe? That there was no way he could try to take her again, not if Sven personally made sure he was smashed into the ground like the insect he was? That the thought of her, leading her free people, had made him smile as he closed his eyes, not expecting to open them again?

(He had opened them, back on Pollux, having been recovered from the water he thought he would die hitting. The water that scum was supposed to die in, but unfortunately, Lotor had also been retrieved. But the princess had been there in the medbay, waiting for him to wake up, and that seemed more important than the other details.)

Perhaps he was all wrong. Perhaps pursuing a relationship with Romelle wouldn’t be so disastrous. It might even be nice. (He pointedly ignored the memory trying to surface- before all of that, before she gave him the dagger, when he had knocked her over as missiles had fired on them. When he had held her there and become pointedly aware of how different this outfit was from her normal long dresses, how low it was- _stop it_.) Alright, it would be much, much more than just ‘nice’. But, well, but there was still something wrong. What was it?

He absently rubbed his arms, fingers running over a fading scar. He had a lot of those, from this _förbannad_ war that seemed to drag on for-

The war.

That was the problem!

She deserved not just the right man, but the right future. He wasn’t sure exactly what her right future was, but he knew the war had to end- her and her peoples’ safety had to be absolutely assured- for it to happen.

Which meant the war had to end for anything between them to happen. He couldn’t afford to become distracted, less objective, from the war that should be his first priority.

And he couldn’t let her become hopeful, especially if something were to happen to him during it. (and no part of him was going to admit that he fully expected he would not survive through the war. He had had too many experiences, too many scars, for him to believe he would.) (but for the first time in a very long time, he let himself plan something he would do after the war. Did he truly think it would happen? He didn’t know. But he knew he could at least muse on it, if nothing else for the resolve it would give him.) 

* * *

 

Bandor actually didn’t even bring it up around him for longer than he had expected- not until a week later, when Sven’s transfer to Pollux was made official at the party celebrating the reconstruction of the dam.

Of course, then he brought it up in from of multiple officers and Romelle. And then told Romelle why Sven wouldn’t say anything.

Sven stared in shock at the prince, trying to separate his anger at the boy, humor at the siblings now struggling bodily with each other, and awe that Romelle had just called him a very important pilot and that she blushed talking about him. And that’s when he decided to ignore his previous decision to not even say anything until after the war.

He stepped forward, catching her arm.

“He’s right, Romelle. I have nothing to offer you.” Her eyes widened, then lowered with sadness, and he felt motivated to keep talking as he dropper her hand. “I am only a flyer. And you are from a famous royal family. But someday, when Zarkon is defeated-“ She lifted her hand again, and he took it. “-perhaps… we will talk of love.”

She smiled a small, little smile, but her eyes shone. And he didn’t even regret giving her hope until he was suddenly and forcibly reminded why he shouldn’t have an hour later, when a young man from the southern fields ran into the garden, screaming “It’s an invasion! We’re under attack!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's my interpretation of how Sven works through his feelings. I really wanted to change what he said to Romelle at the end, something like "perhaps we will talk of other things" or "other options" or "we will talk of having more" or "being more" or something, BUT that line was supposed to fit right into the Canon Show, this chapter being an addition and not an alteration. *sigh* but other than that, I'm pretty happy about it.
> 
> Also, looked into the Ryou/Amue and watched some subbed golion and like... Ryou is Messed Up, yall. like, he's so mean to Amue, he hallucinates her being his dead older brother, (her dagger she gives him is implied to be what she was keeping on her if Sincline captured her, to commit suicide rather than be his slave again, so like WHAT THE HECK this was a KIDS SHOW) but they are still a little shippy in the last two episodes? its weird. also, Ryou did not get a funeral even though Shiro got like three, so theres that. though, I do think he got a much better death scene, so thers that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now Back To The Guns AU Fic, Enjoy kiddos
> 
> (Part 2 of the first chapter, be warned: FLUFF, Hilarity, trying my best to write a kiss scene, and more hints about Romie past that I wont follow up on here. also, a good possibility of me lying about any of the above four things. Go read the chapter and find out!)

Reality Designation VNV-610-62 (Part 2)

* * *

 

She helped him up from the bed as it beeped, the rounded cover sliding open. He groaned, bleary eyes blinking in confusion at her. She led him to the chair to sit for a bit. People were always disorientated when they came out of a replenisher- whether it was those state of the art pods they had in the court she grew up with, or the cheaper hospital bed ones. The fact that these took longer to be as effective might have had something to do with how he had to drain a cup of water before he even realized he was sitting. And drinking.

“Wh-where am I?”

“Space hospital- Planet Ebb.” She smiled at him.

“Oh… oh, hallo Romelle!” he smiled up at her in greeting. She nodded at his recognition- and she was wearing the brown wig, too. Once you could recognize faces, other things caught up to you too pretty quickly, and within a minute he remembered everything.

“Was the mission successful?” he asked, well, most of everything, at least.

“Yes. The others from… wherever it was you said got the stuff and took it home, don’t worry. No need for you to freak out and jump in front of the lawning rod! And over three dozen cleiz eggs, too.” She chastised slightly louder than normal. A frown crossed over his face, then he began to focus on her wig, and nodded.

“I’m sorry about that, Romie, really.” Tried to be as apologetic as he could, which was amusing as his voice still dripped of sleep.

“I know, I was just so worried, Dear.” She took his cup with her left hand, so he could see the three-banded bracelet there.

He looked down, finding a matching one on the platform by his bed, along with his fake ID and a few pieces of change. He nodded in understanding.

“I know, I’m so sorry dear. It’s just, one was so young, with their brother. And he looked like an old friend.”

“Yeah, reminded me of our school days. Including you being so…”

“Brave?”

“Hmm, let’s go with brash. Can you walk now, Royun?” she asked. The charade wasn’t necessary on the way here, not completely, but they could hardly pay for a private room the whole time, so they could definitely be overheard by any other Altean-sympathizing patients or nurses. Only four or five of them really aided the two doctors here that worked with the Guns, so they had to be careful.

Romelle and Royun, plus the bauxite wedding bracelets, would mark them from the Turfali sector, and they could work with that.

“I think so, Dear.” He said.

“Alright then.” She carefully lifted his arm over her shoulder- she tried not to upset the wound, but it did seem to heal up well. “I paid before, so we could just head straight home, so let’s go out here.”

He grew stronger and stronger as they walked, and by the time they reached the shuttle, he didn’t need her help to climb up or into his chair.

She carefully shut the door, then sat down.

“So, what’s the last thing you remember?” She asked.

“Ah, let’s see. I remember getting back to the ship… and talking…and sitting in here… then I don’t think I remember anything until… maybe some moving lights around me as I got taken in to the hospital?” he guessed, brows furrowed. “And then… oh, that was probably just a dream. Yeah-“

She jolted forward, looking for any signs of concussions. You weren’t supposed to have any dreams in a pod, that wasn’t right. She said as much, asking if he felt fuzzy headed still or if anything else was wrong.

“Ah, no. no, I was probably just confused.” He said quickly. “It’s nothing.”

“Are you sure? That last mission was weird, maybe something then-“

“No.” he said firmly. “Just confused, with the lights and sounds and things before the healing bed is all.”

“If you’re sure…”

“Ja. I am sure.” He smiled at her, trying to be reassuring. “I’m sorry, I did not want to worry you about this.”

“No, no, its fine. Alright, lets head back to base. Chief wants to talk to you, and I want to be a fly on that wall.” She smirked.

“Oh, Romie, you are a cruel, cruel woman.” He said dramatically, and she laughed.

“Serves you right for not telling me you needed to go to a hospital right away.” As they flew off, he kept stealing looks at her. Her smile that tugged naturally at her lips, unlike his own resting stoiske face. He was glad he had managed to not tell her about the kiss he remembered before falling asleep, pressed gently to his forehead as she muttered something he couldn’t make out. His mind was clearing up now, and he was pretty sure it was either because she was feigning to be a concerned wife, or something he had conjured up in his delusional brain. Either way, he was glad he hadn’t embarrassed both of them by bringing it up.

For her part, Romelle was glad he didn’t ask way they were pretending to be married. It was a mix of family members not being asked awkward questions of why they were there, and the fact that more than one person had seen her kiss him on the forehead when she dropped him off. She was just glad that they had long enough sleeves on the day of the mission no one would wonder about them not wearing the bracelets she hadn’t procured until yesterday.

Even so, when she carefully unpinned the wig and placed her fake id on the dashboard, the bracelet was the last thing to come off. She couldn’t help but notice he didn’t even seem to think about taking hers off until she did- not that that meant anything.

* * *

Romelle didn’t end up being a fly on the wall in the meeting, though she did wait outside. When Sven came out, she waved him over.

“I’ve got a terrible, dumb, question.” She started out with.

“Uh, alright.” Sven smiled at her opening.

“After I filed the reports from the mission a few days ago, um, the Chief said something that made me think…” she tried as they walked down the hall, voice low enough not to be over heard by any passing members who didn’t have their clearance.

Sven stopped, pulling her over to the nearest alcove. “What is it?” he asked, looking directly at her.

“Well, you mentioned the people from the other reality, some looked like people from ours.”

“Ja.”

“The one that kind of… looked like her… well, Chief wondered if that was me in that reality.” She said, voice even lower. “Because... of where I’m from… not just the court but… my relations.” She finally whispered.

She knew he probably knew, but that didn’t mean she had ever told him, and she hoped he wouldn’t say anything as she stared at the not very interesting pattern on the floor. Sven was quiet for a long time, or maybe it only felt that way to her.

“Ah, it its possible.” He said, and she looked up at him quickly. “Not just, because different reality craziness kind of make anything possible, but, because of…” he gestured vaguely in the air. Oh, so he did know. Even though it was what she had hoped, she didn’t know if it made her feel any better. “That you might look like that in alternative dimension. But, I do not think that was the other-you. For one thing, she answered to…her name.”

Oh.

OH.

“Oh.” She muttered, eyes widening with those implications. She was pretty sure they said the not-Akira and not-Sammy had different names than the ones they looked like, and their version of Sven definitely had a different name. So, why not the not-empress?

“But, I do not think that means something bad about that version of you.” He said, a bit more hesitantly. “The other me, they clearly knew, but he was not there. So perhaps, that you and that me were somewhere else together, on some other mission. Maybe even with their Slav.”

She couldn’t help but giggle at that. “Oh, maybe their Slav is less annoying than ours.” She wheezed, feeling the lightest she had in days.

“I don’t think so, he sounded just like our Slav when they described him.” He laughed as well.

Once their laughs subsided, she shot him a grateful look. “That’s for that, Sven. You should probably get some rest now, though.”

“Ja, probably.” He agreed, stretching a bit. “I will see you around then?”

She nodded, waving a bit. “Yup, probably at diner if we get the same night shift. Or at breakfast.” He nodded and began to walk off.

“No.” an angry voice echoed above her head. “No, I thought it would be fine but its not.”

She looked up in alarm, backing against the wall and reaching for a weapon. Sven settled back over, reaching for one he didn’t have- his were back in his room- looking all around. Then she paused. It was echoed and distorted, but that was-

Slav’s head popped out of the air vent on the ceiling and he climbed out.

“Slav.” She groaned, and Sven didn’t look happy either.

“No. No, I am not listening to another word either of you have to say until you are honest with each other.” He crossed two sets of arms.

Well, that wasn’t what she was expecting.

“Uhhhh…”

“Ummm…”

“Do not act dumb! I was hoping you two would figure it out by yourselves, especially after out last couple of missions but no. Chief Kogane even talked to him about it, and mention you talking to him, Romie!”

She blinked, pieces slowly falling together.

“And then, you mention something the Chief says to you, and I think maybe you are actually listening to sense Romie, but then you go on about your alternative reality self for no reason! You either chickened out or you literally think your alternative self is… wait, why would you think that?”

She began to panic at that last bit, Slav was too smart already and she did not need him piecing it out more than he had, that she forgot to be mad as she realized he was also talking about her feelings for Sven.

“Ah, did you say you have been listening in on meetings with the Chief? And whatever he might or might not think about things not your business or maybe even true?” Sven stepped in, with a side glance at Romie. He had realized what the rambling at Slav’s sentence had meant too and was distracting him. He also was mad at the eavesdropping thing, but still, Romie made a note to tell him thank you later on.

Slav matched Sven’s glare, then sighed.

"Fine, I will just say it, so you finally get it out. Look, in every Reality where there is a Sven, I estimate that there is a 72% chance there is a Romelle in the same general time/space area. In these Realities, there is a 94.8% they are in love.”

Romie chocked, and Sven didn’t do much better when Slav gave them that little piece of wisdom. Slav held up three hands to cut them off as they began to splutter.

“That is not all- in these Realities, there is a 53% that both of you won’t admit it for one reason or another, and a 77% that at least one of you won’t. Now do you see why my life is so frustrating? And that’s assuming a margin of error or an entire 5%, which is ridiculously large.” He tapped a foot as he went back to crossing his arms at them, waiting for their response.

Romie was still reeling- it was one thing for Chief to mention it in private and maybe hint that he though Sven might not totally reject her, it was quite another to have Slav drop… all of that on them. She looked at Sven, who was also staring slack—jawed at the little alien.

Then he looked at her, eyes wide with… surprise, definitely, but also… was that hope? Or maybe she just was seeing what she wanted, what was probably written on her face as well. She had spent three quarters of her life holding an impassioned face at every hopeful moment, every moment she knew would be dashed, but she couldn’t hold it all back here, not with him. He swallowed, eyes flicking back to the idiotic, moron of an absolute genius. Then he stepped closer to her, slowly taking one shoulder as he pulled them together.

She still could barely get words out as Sven began to stutter.

“Um, would-would you mind if- no I mean I was hoping- if he is right and-“

‘He’s right.” She said quickly, voice coming out higher than she anticipated.

Somehow, his eyes got even wider, and Romie rushed to fix it.

“I-I mean if he’s right about you, that is… because… he’s right about me. Er, my feelings. For you.”

Ohhhh quiznak that definitely did not fix things.

“He is.” Sven said.

Or maybe it had.

He leaned down slowly, until their foreheads were touching. Then he asked, barely more than a breath:

“So… do you mind if I kiss you, then?”

She could get her brain to figure out the right answer to that, so instead she just smiled at him, and tilted her chin up.

He kissed her, soft and sweet.

He was so gentle, she marveled, this man who was not small, but so different that the men she knew at court. She banished the thought from her mind because it was unpleasant, and right now her only focus should be on Sven and how he was slowly drawing away.

She let him, breaking the kiss and hoping that wasn’t a rejection.

His grin said it probably wasn’t, and him grabbing both of her hands reassured her. He turned a bit to glare and kick- really more of a slight nudge with the foot, don’t whine Slav- their audience, and she couldn’t keep back a little chuckle at the whole thing.

“So, Chief told you then?” She asked as the alien scampered off.

“Sort of. He did sort of imply if we weren’t his friend he would have forced us to figure it out before now. So, you talk to Kogane about me?” He asked back, smiling.

“Sort of.” She laughed a little. “He just said pretty much the same thing to me about it a few days ago. Well, he didn’t tell me how you felt, jerk, but yeah.”

“Oh, that’s cruel of him.” Sven hummed. “Given he’s been teasing me so long about it… some kind of friend, huh?”

She hummed in agreement, then frowned. “Wait… so long? Oh. Oh, how long have you, uh, you know….”

“How long have I been in love with you? A while. I didn’t admit it until that big mission though, the one two, three months ago?” Sven admitted sheepishly. “Ah, how long have you?”

She coughed. “Probably a bit longer than you then… and the same for the admitting though.”

He nodded, then drew her into a hug.

After a while, his grip loosened, and he muttered. “So much lost time, fullstendig tosk.”

“What?” she asked, smiling a bit.

“Nothing.”

“Alright. But, ah, Sven?”

“Ja?”

“If you want to make up for lost time, I have an idea, and Chief is walking down the hall… perhaps a lovely little surprise for him would-“

He cut her off with another kiss. Still just as gentle, but definitely more passionate, and she happily reciprocated. The next eight and a half ticks were very nice indeed.

Until Kogan walked past, saw them, and screeched like a clovenheifer.

Then, running hand in hand with Sven, laughing like maniacs as Chief chased them, spluttering about explanations and proper decency, they were even better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'd like to add more Realties and AUs and such to this fic, if you have any ideas hit me up.  
> Until then, I'm focusing on writing my other voltron fic, and drafts for a Fantasy AU Batman thing, probably a series of oneshots in that world. Go check out my other stories if you like them, I'm also on FF.Net with the same name, pocketramblr, and I have even more different stories there!


	4. Voltron Force Reality- Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sven's actions change a bit when you consider he is married to a powerful princess... but not that much, because oh, how they love their son.

Reality VFV-272-11

* * *

 

Romelle kissed him on the cheek as she got ready to leave for Ritnen. He smiled and handed her the large sunhat from on top of her bag.

“You two will be home by tomorrow, right?” She asked, taking both.

“Ja, the afternoon at the latest.” He followed her to the door, waving as she climbed into the shuttle that would take her to her business trip, disusing trade agreements and such. However, that night she was going to visit Arus and stay the night, vising her cousin and niece. He had told her he would use that time to go on a trip with their son, Cavo.

Which wasn’t untrue. They would leave as soon as he could for Crydor. He had been spending a lot of time there recently, claiming important trips and visits to other planets so Romelle wouldn’t get suspicious.

He hated lying to her, but he couldn’t bear to tell her his greatest failure still threatened them now, and that their son was in even more danger. Not when he was so close to fixing it. After, maybe.

He went to grab the blankets, hats, and coats he knew they would need on Crydor.

* * *

 

After tucking his son safely in a heated cradle that must have been similar to the one that would have held him when he was younger, he opened the Comm.

“I am ready, here at Crydor. Now tell me, what do you want in exchange for the cures?”

The green skinned man laughed. “Easy, Sven, easy. I want to help you and your son, but you are sure you want it? I am telling you now, it will be a bit difficult to get what I’ll need.”

He had been assured that it wouldn’t take more than a day and a half. “I'm sure.”

“Alright then. I’m going to need you to bring me the Blue Lion of Voltron.”

What?

“The Blue Lion?” he asked, feeling the rage bubbling up, the purple, sticky rage always just under the skin. “Are you insane? And even if I could get it for you, why?”

“Because you want the cure to the haggarium, remember? And because if you don’t, you’ll be forced to anyway.”

“Are you thre-“

“No, I'm stating a fact. I can cure haggarium, I can also intensify its properties. I can even use it to control you, and force your actions. Now, it would be very difficult to get the lion if I had to do it by just dragng your body along, but you can use your mind and get it for me. i… I don’t want you to have to do it, but my employer and patron really wants the Blue Lion.” His voice softened, like he was really sorry. Sven couldn’t tell if he was or not, but he did know _he_ was still angry.

“If you don’t want the Blue Lion then why are you doing this?” he hissed.

“He has ways to control you, he has ways to control me.” The doctor shrugged. “Now, I can give you the cure… but only if you do this willingly.”

Sven swallowed, wishing he could think without all the buzzing in his head, the venom swelling up around his ears, tightening his chest. He thought about Romelle, and opened his mouth to tell this creep to forget it, when he heard a sound. His eyes shot to the side, looking for his son. When he saw him, he knew he only had one choice.

“Fine.” He cut the call, trying to calm his breathing. He moved to Cavo, checking on him, but he seemed alright, just cooing a bit as he fell asleep in the protective warmth of the cradle. He sighed, kissing his son one last time, then closed the glass, watching as it slowly fogged up. It would be soundproof, though he did have an alarm set up for if he woke and began to cry, along with a program holo to play if he needed to be calmed down. Then he took one last deep breath, and hoped on the pod, trying to keep the tears from his eyes.

He already knew he would do it, he didn’t deserve to shed tears when he was going to be the one betraying his old friends.

Well, maybe, he thought as he looked at the old pictures and prints of the Castle, he could save this a bit. It wouldn’t make up for everything, but perhaps he could betray someone who did deserve it.

* * *

 

 Sven hadn’t been at the castle since Lotor had died. He and the team had drifted apart slowly after that, then never really met up after what happened with the Incident and Keith being declared a fugitive. He used to regret that, but now it made things a little easier. He bypassed the security and id checks, grabbing the blue lion key from the new Voltcom tech Lamina had told them about the last time she had been back to Pollux to visit her father, King Bandor. He managed to get into the lion easy enough, Blue still knew him.

He tried not to let that sting as he left, running into the team on his escape. He had hoped they wouldn’t be on the beach yet when he realized they weren’t in the castle. At least Romelle hasn’t gotten here yet.

* * *

 

Romelle got to Arus to find nobody home.

“Allura!” She called. “Allura? Lamina? Is anyone home?” she placed her bag on a table, confused until she heard the sound of running feet. “Oh, there you are! I didn’t see you on the be-“ she turned to look down the hall, but only saw her niece and a boy running up.

She frowned- they were fully armed, not in any beach clothes or anything.

“Oh, Aunt Romelle! I’m so sorry, with everything that happened I forgot you were coming.”

“What’s happened? Is everyone alright?”

“Yeah, its just… someone stole the Blue Lion.”

She dropped her hat on the ground and didn’t bother to pick it up.

“What? How? Is Allura-“

“We don’t know how.” The boy cut in, holding up his hands and summoning holoscreens. “The team and Daniel went to go get it back.”

“Oh, good.” She breathed a bit easier.

“Yeah, Pidge managed to track it to Crydor, so-“

Her heart stopped. “What? Crydor, are you sure?”

“Uh, yeah.” He pointed to the map, then brought up some pictures of it.

“No one… no one lives on Crydor anymore, do they?” She asked in a strangled voice.

“Aunt Romelle, what's wrong?” Lamina was worried as she watched her aunt began to twist her hands anxiously.

“No, its been uninhabited for years. Probably no one even know how to find the old settlements anymore.” The boy answered, very confused now.

She shook her head. “No. One man does- pull up the footage of the thief.”

He looked to Lamina, as if asking if he was allowed to show her. Her niece nodded, hurrying him up.

She only had to watch for a few seconds before she knew. She recognized that build, that walk. And the recognized all the gear he was wearing.

“No.” She could barely breath out as she watched the thief pry open the Lion’s inner workings. She swallowed thickly, turning away.

“Romelle, whats wrong?” Lamina asked again.

“I- He- Do you have any spare suits of armor?”

“Uh, Allura might have one that fits you, why?”

“I need it. I'm going to Crydor.”

“What?” “Why?” the children exclaimed, Lamina worried and the boy confused.

She didn’t answer, she was trying to find the words she would need in a while. The words she would have to use to ask her husband why he had betrayed them all. 

* * *

 

She didn’t use the shuttle she brought, she borrowed a much faster one from the castle. She tried to think of any reason why he would do this. He had been away more, always seeming to be out on business for one reason or another, and when he was home he seemed more nervous, or ill. Maybe that was just her panicked thoughts looking back and making things up, but the more the thought about it, she knew there was something to that. Perhaps he had changed. But she knew he hadn’t. at least, not that much. It wasn’t for himself, he would never leave everything just to take the Lion.

A small voice whispered, _you mean leave you? Because he didn’t leave everything, he clearly thought to take your son._

Their son. He had taken Cavo, or at least, he was supposed to. He didn’t bring him to the Castle during the theft though, obviously. Had he just left him somewhere, maybe even back at Pollux? Maybe. Or…

Had someone else taken him?

She swallowed the bile that rose at that thought. Sven wouldn’t steal the lion away for profit or for himself, but for Cavo?

In an instant.

But, that didn’t make sense either. He would have asked the team for help, perhaps used the Blue Lion in a trap or whatever he needed. He wouldn’t have done… this.

Not unless he felt it was legitimately his only option.

Maybe there was something else in play. Come one, think! She told herself. Has he ever acted like this before? Always being away, or ill, or upset? Doing stupid things for seemingly no reason?

She couldn’t really think of anything. The closest that came was him throwing himself off a tower trying to kill Lotor, or him bending to Hagar’s wishes until he could tell the team what was wrong and attack the old witch. Nothing else really stood out, except for-

Except for when Merla had been controlling him for a little over a month.

But Merla had reformed, and hadn’t been seen in this sector for over a decade.

Still, the thought made her grit her teeth and push to go even faster.

* * *

 

She found the old bunkers easily enough. She had been here before, a bit over a year ago, right after Cavo was born. It had been very important to Sven, so she had agreed. He showed her around the village he lived in until he was about six years old in a shuttle, then they had gone inside the largest bunker to the Great Hall. Apparently all the children would have been presented here, and so Sven presented _Cavo Svenson of Troy_ to her, not seeming to care they were the only ones there.

“The only ones I need here, are here.” He had assured, before revealing a gift he had been working on for their boy.

Black Crydon armor- a belt and two gauntlets, set with blue powered crystals. They looked similar to his black and purple ones, and he had shown how when Cavo was old enough they would modify it together, building the armor that could be stored in these three pieces and called upon when needed.

“Thank you.” He had told her once they were back in the shuttle. “It- He is the last son of Crydor. I’m glad he could have his birthright.”

“Of course.” She had smiled, leaning over to kiss him.

He had been so relaxed on that trip, she mused now as she walked up to the slightly open bunker doors. Something about him being here made him calmer, healthier even.

Well, not too calm she added cynically, after all, he had just stolen blue and iced this person-

She shrieked, jumping back through the doors as she realized the shape by one of the doors was a person in an ice block. She rushed up-

Oh, it was Allura. It seemed to be synthice, but that didn’t stop her panic as she pulled out the stun stick she had snagged from the armory and smashed it into the ice, letting her cousin out.

“Ro-romelle?” Allura asked, blinking as she looked around, gathering the ice all over the floor and her cousin standing in her armor in front of her.

“yeah. Lamina told me what happened, what is-“

A small cry broke through her thoughts.  She turned to look into the doorway, then ran inside, seing her baby in a cradle. It was closed, but not latched, she realized as the part of her mind that wasn’t screaming for her to get her child wondered why the soundproof, warm space wasn’t being soundproof. At least he still seamed warm, with the electric blanket.

She picked up Cavo, humming to him.

“He brought your son here.” Allura whispered, shocked and confused. “Romelle, why- do you know what's going on?”

“No. He said he and Cavo would go on a trip while I was visiting you, but that they should be back by tomorrow afternoon.” She said, not turning. She focused on her baby, safe in her arms at the very least. Cavo calmed, going back to the doze he had been in. if she kept looking at him, she could keep the tears, angry, devastated, lost, from falling.

There was a sound of a ship landing by the bunker, and Allura grabbed her arm. “Hide.” She hissed, pushing the two of them into some kind of closet.

“Is it Sven?” She whispered back, trembling. She didn’t know what she was going to say to him, but it would-

“No, he took the lion.” Allura cut off that train of thought. “And we don’t have any back up coming, so this is no ally.” Then she closed the door softly.

The three clung together in the darkness of the closet, Romelle wiling her son to stay asleep, or at least quiet. Allura didn’t want to risk any light, so her Voltcom and inner helmet light stayed off.

Footsteps, barely heard over how loud her heart seemed to be beating. Then a voice called:

“Sven? Sven! I have the cure, but I don’t see any lion.”

Allura tensed, recognizing the voice, but didn’t move.

More footsteps.

“He must not be here yet- I'll wait for him, you return to the tanks and keep waiting- you need to stay out of sight until I have the child and the key. Then we will leave- though I suspect the Voltron Force might be what’s slowing our little friend, so watch out for them. Although, it would be a fabulous acquisition if we could get all five lions out of this. Go.”

Romelle turned to where her cousin’s face likely was, the question in how she had drawn her son as close as possible. Whoever this person was, whatever they promised Sven, they were going to try to take her son too.

Allura didn’t say anything, just moved her hand from Romelle’s shoulder to the inner neck, activating the helmet.

“We can talk, if we whisper.” She said though the comm in the helmets. “Now listen, that's Maahox, one of Lotor’s operatives.”

“Lotor? Then-“

“Hmm, Synthice, not a lot though. Sven must have fought someone here.” They heard his voice again, and all of their words stopped as they listened, then heard the door swinging open. “Ahh, here then.”

Footsteps, so close now.

“Not here. Sven must have grabbed the child after the fight when he ran. Hmm, then where…”

The footsteps turned away, but neither woman relaxed. And then suddenly, heavier foot steps, perhaps more of the back up shoulders or-

“Ah, you are here.” _Sven's voice._

“Yes, and so are you. But where is your son, you know he has to be here for me to give him the cure.”

Cure? So their son needed some sort of cure? But what, why?

“He’s in here, in the cra-“ there was a falling to his voice, Romelle knew he must have just seen the open, empty bed. “Del.” He finished.

There was a single beat, then a crash. Romelle jumped, but Allura tightened her grip.

“Shh, stay calm.”

“Where is my son?!?” Sven roared at Maahox.

“I don’t know! He wasn’t here when I got here!” Maahox yelled back, sounding just a bit scared. Romelle knew why- Sven in a fury was a frightful thing. Not to mention, if their son wasn’t involved, she knew he would never trade the blue lion.

“Then who- Allura!” he hissed.

“Princess Allura was here?” Maahox asked, almost accusingly.

“Yes, but she clearly isn’t anymore. She must have taken Cavo when I left. But she shouldn’t have been able to get out of that synth ice so fast…” Sven still seemed spitting mad, but his anger wasn’t directed at anything now, Romelle though a bit cheerfully. Until she heard the unmistakable sound of someone flipping a table over. Oh, his anger wasn’t being directed at anyone.

“Romelle?” Allura asked, barely a murmur. She pressed something into Romelles empty hand. “Don’t panic at anything I do, no matter what happens. Stay in here until I tell you too, or Maahox leaves. Then go back to your ship and get your son away from here.”

Before she could protest, Allura opened the closet door and slammed it shut in an apparent burst of anger.

“Yes, Sven. Your son is fine- because Maahox was going to kidnap him. Now, you want to tell me what in the hell is going on here?”

“Where is he?” Sven asked instead.

“On a ship back to Arus.” Allura lied. “Since we didn’t have all of the lions, we took two back up ships. When you left your infant in an open cradle on a sub zero world, I took him to one and sent them back so he could be safe. Good thing I did, because when I got back, Maahox was whining about how long it took you to be here, because he wanted to get the kid and the key and leave. So, do you want to explain yourself? Because I think at the very least I should have an explanation for your wife, who is currently sitting in the castle of lions with her niece trying to figure out why her idiot of a husband kidnapped her son, left her, and stole the Blue Lion.”

Sven seemed speechless, then sighed.

“I- I did it for him, Allura. Cavo is… do you remember when Haggar’s cat bit me, before the incident with the robeast?”

“Of course- you still have the scar it seems.”

“it- the bite was infected. And the infection passed on to my son. This man,” he was probably pointing to Maahox, “said he could cure it. The cold slows the process, as does my armor, but… Allura, I had to do it for my son.”

Allura didn’t reply.

“Well, I can still give you the cure, and my notes for home much to give him- though I’d still need the Lion Key.” Maahox said, and Romelle heard some rustling.

“I- I-“ Sven stuttered, and oh she longed to peak, but she couldn’t, not with Cavo in her arms.

There was a long stretch of silence, then Allura spoke. “Do it, Sven.”

There was quiet again, and Romelle heard a rustle and a clunk.

“Thank you, Sven.”  Maahox said, no faux kindness anywhere near his voice now. “Now, your son would have been preferable, but your going to have to come with me, Princess.”

“Wha- these are empty!” Sven hissed, then roared a wordless battle cry. She was pretty sure he was activating his Crydon armor.

“Well, if you don’t come with me princess, I suppose I can leave the two of you here while I go to Arus and grab the boy instead- maybe even his mother too. It'd your choice.”

“Why?” Sven’s voice broke.

“Because he has likely inherited his father’s connection to the blue lion, and given my work in strengthening haggarium’s effects, I thing we could make a good little blue lion pilot out of him. I'm sure he’ll make you proud- if you don’t succumb to the effects first. But using the princess would be quicker, so what is your choice?”

Sven was shaking, she could practically hear the tears welling up, hear his desperate thoughts.

She whispered into the comm- “Allura, say no, they'll be on a wild goose-“

“I’ll come, stop whining Maahox.”

“No, Allura, no!” she hissed. If Maahox really was working for Lotor, she would not send her cousin straight into his hands.

“I’m sorry, Allura.” Sven whispered, hoarse.

Allura ignored them both.

“Lets go, Maahox.” There was footsteps, some quiet sobs, and metal grating sound.

“Are you clear of the building?” she whispered.

“Yes.” Allura barely breathed. “I'm getting into a tank. Careful, Lotor’s here.”

“He’s here?” she demanded, but there was no answer.

There were footsteps- Sven was trying to leave.

Oh no, she was not letting him get away with this.

Opening the door quietly, she stepped out. Letting down the helmet, she took a breath.

“So, were you going to tell me, or what?”

He turned around at her voice, a sight to see in his black armor, set with purple power crystals and both axes drawn.  They cast him in a strange light, and for a second his eyes seemed to purple themselves. Then it was gone as he dropped his weapons.

“You’re here.” He whispered, a smile tugging at his lips.

* * *

 

“So, were you going to tell me, or what?”

Sven jerked around at the voice.

Romelle!

“You’re here!” he breathed in relief, running up to her. “And Cavo, thank the gods.”

“Yes, and thanks to you as well, it seems.” She said flatly.

His mouth opened- then shut. Smart choice.

“Sven, what were you thinking?” she couldn’t keep her voice strong anymore, and it cracked halfway though.

“I’m so sorry, I just couldn’t let Cavo… I had to get the cure.”

“Yeah, and that worked so well.” She muttered, shaking her head, trying to keep tears from falling. She could already see some working their way down Sven’s face. “Just… why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you trust me?”

“I’m sorry- I do trust you, I just didn’t want to hurt you.” He whispered. He wanted to embrace her, she could read it in the lines of his posture, leaning toward her but seeming held back by an invisible barrier.

“Yeah, that didn’t work out so well either, huh?” she asked, before she broke. Tears flowing, she leaned into him, and he wrapped his shaking arms around her.

“I don’t know why Allura did that- now we lost her and the blue lion, and-“ she started.

“Uh, about that.” Sven said, before chuckling though the tears. He pulled out a lion key. “I was never going to give him the real one.”

Romelle stepped back, looking at the key, then Sven, then the key. “Sven.”

“Yes?”

“I won't forgive you if you do not get your butt in the blue lion, grab Allura, and stomp on that undead creep right now.” She said, completely serious, but a shaky smile began to show.

“Is that all?” he asked, almost eager.

“We’ll see.” She went to the cradle, picking up the heated blanket. She put the three small objects in the cradle to look at as she wrapped it around Cavo.

“Ja, that’s fair.” He sighed. “Romelle?”

“Yes?”

Take the back door over there, my speed shuttle is there. It has weapons, and the location of the other lion’s marked on it. They, uh, might be a bit stuck.” He offered the keys, which she took without looking. “What are those?”

“I think,” she picked up one, “this is a tracker to Allura. And these are bombs.”

“Great.” Sven took them all, pocketing one bomb but keeping the others. “Now, hurry to the shuttle- I might have to blow up the big door to get out.”

She narrowed her eyes, considering how not covert that was, and wondering how he was going to sneak onto the lion like that. Then, perhaps realizing how mad she still was at him, she decided she didn’t care, as long as he didn’t die.

“I’ll see you later.” Romelle said. It was part reassurance, part promise, part warning. They were going to have a discussion about this, and while she wasn’t going to have fun, he would have less.

“See you later. I love you.” It was part reassurance, part plea, part apology.

She walked out the back door, then sprinted to the speed shuttle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aye I did another one! if you guys have any ideas of other realities, leave them below!  
> cookies for anyone can figure out what the Reality Name/Number things mean, because I do think them all out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sven is In Trouble(tm)  
> Part two of chapter 4

Reality VFV

* * *

The red lion was the easiest to find, not just because of the mark on the nav system- it was fitted for this kind of environment, how often had he used this shuttle here?- but because it was only half buried in some mostly clear ice. She broadcast out to them, hoping their systems were online.

“Red Lion, come in. The is Romelle, com in Red Lion.” Lace was still the pilot, right? Or was it someone else now, they did have a lot of new recruits.

The commscreen flickered on, and she saw lance, fuzzy connection but there.

“Romelle? How are you-“

“Lamina told me what happened, Allura and Sven sent me to find you. How can I get you out of this ice?”

“Ah, its messing with our systems but we should be better to get more fire power if you get us out, hmm. Is that speedshuttle equipped with k-v6 weaponry?”

She pulled up the armory inventory on another screen, sparing a glance for Cavo, still strapped into a basinet behind her.

“Hm, yes, it looks like it does.”

“Really? Well that’s good. Pleasant surprise.” Lance said.

“Wait, are you going to have her shoot those at us?” A voice said from behind him, and a smaller figure poked out behind lance, eyes wide behind his own lion helmet.

“No.” lance rolled his eyes. “Well, kinda. Romelle, I’m going to need you to shoot as close as possible to the lion’s tail, two shots over out back, and a few around the head.”

The kid muttered something she couldn’t hear, and that Lance ignored.

“Right, I’m starting up now.” She opened the targeting system.

“So, who’s Romelle?” the kid asked. “Um, good at aiming?”

“Chill, Dan-man, She’s Allura’s cousin. And Sven’s wife.”

“Wait, that Romelle? As in Princes Romelle, the only one who managed to escape being a slave on Doom besides the og team? And the one who was a cool spy for you guys with Sven, and who-“

“Yes, Daniel. If you could not fanboy in the cockpit when I can't leave, that would be great.”

“Sorry.”

Lance looked at Romelle, a ‘what-can-you-do?’ face she saw often on her brother when Lamina was going off on something.

“Kids, am I right?” she asked.

“Yeah, just be glad there aren't any in your shuttle.” Lance joked.

“Uh, there is.” She fired the first shot at the tail.

“What?” Lance asked, now serious. “Is it Lamina? Vince?”

“No.” She shot another one over the center of the lion, nodding when she saw the ice cracks spreading. She was aiming a bit further out from the Lion than perhaps necessary, but she really didn’t want to miss and hit them. “Apparently, Sven stole the lion to get a cure for haggarium poisoning.”

“Yeah, he told us. That doesn’t explain why-“

“Poisoning that apparently was passed on to my son.” She cut him off, firing two more shots. One or two more around the head should do it now, the tail was already knocking some ice away too.

Lance and Daniel gasped.

“Um, correct me if I'm wrong, we haven’t really gotten together recently, but isn’t your son, like, really little?” Lance asked weakly.

“15 months.” She nodded, lifting the commscreen so they could see the bassinet, then put it back, firing another shot. One more.

“And, just extrapolating here, you didn’t know Sven was going to do this?”

“I didn’t even know about the poisoning, of the fact Cavo had it.” She said flatly, fireing the last shot.

The lion pushed itself out of the shattered ice, shaking it off.

“I am so sorry.” Lance said genuinely. Then he smiled a little bit. “But, something tells me I’m going to feel a lot sorrier for Sven after you find him.”

Her look made him shut up, and he moved around her, firing into another pile of ice and snow, revealing the other three lions.

“So, if you have Cavo, where are Sven and Allura?” Lance asked. Then, opening the comms to the other lions, he backtracked. “Oh, guys, Romelle’s here. She just found out what happened- Sven wanted the cure for his son, who she now has with her. Uh, where are Sven and Allura?”

“Right. So, apparently the guy who offered Sven the cure was actually working for Lotor and took the blue lion and key, along with Allura, in exchange for not hunting the rest of us down. But Sven gave him a fake key and is now sneaking onto the lion with the real one to grab Allura, smash Lotor, and meet up with the rest of us.”

There were various moans and sighs from the others, though they generally looked relieved at the knowledge that Blue should be returning with their missing team mate soon.

Expect Pidge, who looked worried behind his green goggles. “Um, great plan, but we really don’t have long until the cold gets to all of us, so Sven and Allura better get here quickly.”

“Oh, Sven better, because if I have to dig him out of the ice before I yell at him for all of this, he’s going to regret it for a very long time.” Romelle tried to joke, but she was genuinely angry and her tone came out sharp and cold.

“Uh, just a sec, Princess.” Pidge tried to soothe. “He’s under the influence of Haggarium, so he’s probably not in his right mind- it amplifies his anger, fear, and desperation, makes them uncontrollable. So, maybe cut him a little slack?”

Romelle bit her lip, then nodded. “I’ll take that into consideration.” She turned the ship around slowly, looking out for any sign of them.

Their screens flickered on first, showing Sven and Allura in the blue lion.

“Hey guys, we're coming your way fast, but Lotor is right on our tail. Get ready to leave soon.” Allura announced form the pilot’s seat. Sven stood behind her, in full armor.

“Please, did Romelle and Cavo get there-“ He started, and the rest of the team quickly said that they had, Romelle maxing the screen so he could get a better look at her. Looking out her window, she finally saw the Blue Lion heading toward them.

“Hi Sven.” She nodded. “Did you smash Lotor into the ground like the insect he is?”

“I tried. He’s got some sort of Elephant monster.”

“Actually, that’s a mastodon. Robeast.” Pidge sighed, puling up the feed from their security cameras. “I don’t see any fliers, if we all go into atmo and leave, they won’t be able to follow us.”

“Alright then.” Keith said, “As soon as blue is in range, we all take off. Romelle, is your ship capable of that?”

“Yes.” Sven answered instead. “But Romelle, you’ll need to put the bassinet in mode 3, and switch power setting to c4.”

“Got it. Why did you alter this so much?” She asked, initiating the changes and strapping herself in for atmo travel. She had been trained to fly most shuttles, and all of the Polluxi ones. But this was definitely different.

“I had to, so that it could survive being on Crydor so often, plus keep Cavo safe.” He answered hesitantly, and she only hummed in response.

“They're closing in on us, Keith.” Allura said.

“Alright. Take off in t minus 5.” Keith started, and all the Lions changed their stance. Romelle started the sequence and Keith began to count.

“Four, Three, Two, One, Lift off.” Keith continued, then in a burst of color the Lions shot to the sky, Romelle following close behind. The shuttle wasn't as fast as the Lions, but it was faster than she expected.

She looked back at Cavo, but the cradle was secured.

“Alright, do we all have enough power to get back to Arus?”  Keith asked, everyone checked, then nodded.

“Yep.” “yes.” “Yes.” “that was soo cool!” “cadet. Yes, Keith.” “We should all be fine.” Pidge finished. Um, though I think forming Voltron would help us get more power out of what we have, and we could go faster, I really would rather not have an open space battle if Lotor catches us, especially with low power and the kid over there.”

“Hey!” Daniel complained.

“I was talking about Sven’s baby, Cadet.” Pidge rolled his eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure they were concerned for you too though” Romelle teased.

“Alright, that’s what we’ll do then. Form Voltron!” Keith ordered, and Romelle hung the shuttle back a bit, watching in awe. She hadn’t seen this in years, but it was still breathtaking.

When Voltron stood before her in space, she piloted back up to them. “Mind giving us a lift?” she asked.

“Sure thing- I’m tethering you to Black, but, Pidge or Lance should probably hold you in position once we start moving.” Keith explained as he attached her shuttle to Voltron. 

* * *

 

When they landed on Arus, the whole group wearily walked into the Castle main room, Romelle holding Cavo, who was now awake and watching everything with interest. The two other cadets, Lamina and Vince, greeted them.

“You got Blue back!”

“Yes you did- Aunt Romelle? Uncle Sven? What's-“ Lamina’s celebration turned to confusion, but Allura cut off her questions with a handwave.

“Sven, the rest of us will need to talk to you, but I think your wife wants to have the first honor.” She turned to Romelle, who nodded.

“Would you mind watching him until we’re done?” Allura happily took her nephew. Then the others filed out of the room, the children whispering excitedly amongst themselves, Daniel probably filling them in on what happened.

The door shut, but with it Romelle felt her energy drain her. She sat on a chair quietly, staring at her lap. Sven didn’t speak either, though she did hear him disabling his armor.

“How long?” she finally got out, looking up at him. He tilted his head in question. “How long have you known?”

“I- I’ve known about the infection in myself for about four years now. It occurred to me that I should have been able to fight off other things since the bite, how easily some things managed to influence me- usually things of a martarg or bazail composition or things with a lot of rethoj in them.”

Oh, then he was talking about the strange changes in medication for the lessu flu he had to take, and how susceptible to mind attacks he was. She had just supposed it was one of the traits of his people, like how he was able to survive in colder temperatures or how his eyes changed from blue to grey based on his mood.

Wait.

When was the last time she had seen them blue?

He took her continued silence as reason to continue. “I- when I realized what it was, I learned there was no cure, at least not yet. so, I figured that there was no use worrying you unless it turned out to be deadlier than we thought. I… I only learned Cavo had the same infection three months ago. That’s when I began to frantically look for a cure, or some way to slow it down.”

“Who- who told you of the infection?” She asked.

“Doctors B’be and Page. I… I told them I would tell you so that they didn’t. B’be was the one that suggested testing Cavo.”

“You’ve been gone a lot recently.” She murmured, thinking how frequently he had been home in the last three months. She could think of two weeks, and a few days sprinkled in there, where he had actually been on Pollux.

“Yes. The cold slows the progression of the infection. I realized that perhaps three years ago, and spent all the time I could without worrying anyone on Crydor, seeing if there was something there to lead to a stronger cure. Then, in the last three months, I spent twice as much time there, bringing Cavo when I could.” He paused, then broke down. “I’m so sorry, Ro. I was just so scared for our boy. I didn’t want him to… to end up like me.” He sobbed, collapsing in a chair himself.

She looked back down at her hands, then took a deep breath. “Do you mean that you didn’t want him to be like the bravest man I’ve ever met, the most selfless pilot to ever pilot the Blue Lion, or you didn’t want him to be like the lying, scared thief who stole it?”

Sven’s sobs doubled in volume, and he struggled to find his voice. “They are the same man, Romelle, and they probably always have been. But no, I didn’t want the poison in his veins to turn him into someone as scared, as angry as who I am now.”

Romelle turned that over in her mind. “Angry?” She asked. He had a temper like anyone else, but Romelle had mostly seen grief and fear in him lately, especially today.

“Yeah. Angry.” Sven admitted. “Never- almost never at you. But at other flyers or soldiers, at officials who are difficult or slow. Afterwards, it always is so ridiculous, but in the moment, all I can think is how mad I am, and… and how much it burns.”

She looked up. “Burns?”

“Yeah.” He pointed to his scar on his neck. It was one of his that never faded, but she hadn't ever wondered why. They both had scars from Lotor and Hagar, some of the physical ones had long since faded and some never would. “It burns when I get worked up, makes everything seem… worse.”

She nodded, then filed that away. But then, why had she never noticed any of this? “You said ‘almost never’.”

“Huh?”

“You said you almost never felt that anger at me.” She reminded him. He had gotten upset at her, probably even within the last three months, and vice versa, but those little spats and dissagreements did not match up with this description of the infection.

“Oh. Yes. It is easier to control it, when it is you.” Sven admitted. “I’ll feel it bubbling up, but then I look into your eyes, and it cools.”

She believed him, but it had to be said. “Flattery will get you nowhere.” She hesitated. “But, you have had some close calls, haven’t you?”

Sven nodded, growing from scared to ashamed. “Yes. It almost got the best of me when I saw you step out of the closet. I- I just learned you and Cavo were safe and danger was getting further away, but I felt anger, not relief.”

“Why?” Romelle began to watch the scar on his neck.

“I… I was angry at you for finding out. I was angry at you for taking Cavo from his cradle and scaring me. I was angry at you for putting yourself in danger. I was angry at you for not letting me know you were okay, so I could crush Maahox instead of letting him walk away with the Blue Lion and Allura.” He looked down, then sighed. “I wanted to grab Cavo from you, and run to the speeder, and leave. Run so you couldn’t- couldn’t leave me first, couldn’t take him either.” She squinted, the scar might have been getting darker, tuning a bit of purple… or it was just a shadow. “Isn’t that just sad, just absurd? You absolutely should have taken Cavo and run from me when you realized, but I was angry that you might. And then, I was angry when you _didn’t_. How… pathetic.” He spat out the last word, and there was a flicker of light purple on the scar.

“Yes, you were angry.” She thought back to seeing him in his armor as she stepped out of the closet. “Your eyes were… purple, weren't they?” She asked, but didn’t let him answer. “But, I don’t think you were angry at me- a bit, yeah, but that’s not what was making you glow purple. You- you were angry at yourself, weren’t you?”

“Ye-“ Sven started to answer.

“No, I mean, you were angry at yourself for getting bitten by that blasted cat, for loosing to that robeast, for loosing Blue. You were mad that you couldn’t fix it by yourself, or help Cavo, and that you weren’t brave enough to tell me the truth.” She said, starting slow then picking up speed and volume. As she spoke, more flickers of purple shot through his neck, and he grew more tense. “You were mad that you agreed to get the lion, that you were stupid enough to believe that someone who wanted it wouldn’t double cross you. You were angry that the team didn’t stop you from getting the lion, that they or I couldn’t read your mind and figure out you needed help.” The scar was now glowing purple steadily. “You were mad at yourself for letting it happen, for not telling me and mad at me for not knowing. You were mad at yourself for being mad!” It flashed brighter, and his eyes did too.

“Yes, I was!” He stood suddenly, the kicked his chair into the wall, where it broke. “I was mad at myself for letting the witch and her bastard son keep hurting us.”

“You mean hurting you- Cavo and I just happened to be accessory to it.” She stood up too.

Sven turned sharply, purple eyes narrowed. Then the energy seemed to sap out of him, his eyes and scar returning to normal. “You- you can’t think that. I- Romelle, I never would have done any of that if it was only about me.”

She swallowed, fists clenching. “But you did- are you saying you wouldn’t have kept this from me if Cavo wasn’t infected too? Because that’s a lie, you did keep it from me when you only thought it was you.”

“i-“

“Maybe that’s it. You only thought it was you.” She mused.

“No, Romelle, its-“

She held up her hand, and his arguments faded.

“I mean, you thought it was 'only you'. You thought it wasn’t important enough when it was just you, that it was a problem that wasn’t worth other’s help. But then suddenly, it was your son too, and then it was too important to involve others.”

“I- no, I mean…” Sven floundered for a bit. “Your right- once Cavo was involved, it was too much of a risk to not try to get the cure- but before that, you're wrong. It’s not that my poison didn’t matter, its that there wasn’t anything to do about it, and there was no use causing you pain that… if there was no way to fix it.”

She turned that over a bit, then asked: “So, then why not tell me when Cavo became involved? We could have tried to fix it together, and it would hurt a lot less that finding out later if something happened to him, like, I don’t know, his eyes glowing purple when I try to feed him vegetables or something.” this was a trick question, she knew why.

“Because…. Because I had already messed that up- I did not want to admit that I had been lying to you. I was ashamed.”

Hmm, he acknowledged it was lying, at least.

She walked over to the remains of the chair, feeling his eyes follow her. “So, have you been lying to me about anything else?” She picked up on of the legs of the chair, carefully pulling it free of the twisted pile of… whatever it had been made of.

“Uh, no? I mean, I don’t think so? Uh… I mean, except that I did know that Lamina had snuck into your cosmetics last fall but I let her get away with it because she helped me smuggle in more gamobites.”

“Oh yeah, I knew that. I didn’t tell her dad in exchange for some more snuklas.” Then she slammed the piece of the chair into the wall. The part of the seat that had been connected fell off. She slammed it again. “Anything else, Sven?”

“Uh, during the winter games the reason I didn’t attend the opening with you was because I was sneaking out to Crydor to gather samples.”

She slammed it into the wall again, and this time it broke in half. She dropped it, then picked up a larger piece. “Right. Anything not related to the lying-infection-crydor-son-theft thing?” Slam!

“No.”

Slam.

“I know.” Sven sighed

Slam.

“I made a lot of wrong choices. I'm sorry.”

Slam. She reached down to pick up another piece.

He watched her destroy that one, then another, before either spoke again.

“So, what did you find on that hunk of ice?” she asked.

“Huh?”

“Did you find anything else about what slows the poisoning down? I’d like to have something to have the doctors and scientists to work with when I go to them and tell them to cure you two.”

“Uh, just that the cold and the armor help to slow the spread of it. Nothing else really helps- except thinking of you or Cavo.” He paused. “though, that does go both ways.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ah, well, thinking about you two helps me climb out of the… fits, but it can also speed one on, like if you are in danger.”

“Hmm, when you almost attacked Haavok.”

“Yes. Um, I had doctors working on the cure already- and I conscripted fifteen more when I learned of Cavo’s infection.”

“Well, at least you did that right.” She muttered, looking at the pile of chair. It lacked anymore appeal. Sitting back down there was more silence.

“what are you going to do now?” both asked the other at the same time. Romelle almost laughed, both looking at the other awkwardly.

“What- what do you mean?” Sven finally asked.

“I mean- now that we all know about the poison. Will you go back to Crydor, to a hospital, will you…” she couldn’t say it, couldn’t ask if he would leave her, if he would take their son with him as he continued to search for a cure.

“I- I don’t know. What will you-“

“I’m not sure. It seems like Cavo will need to stay somewhere much colder than Pollux, but I’m not sure what he can handle.” She sighed. “Lets hope he inherits a fair bit of Crydori genes.” She wrung her hands. “He’ll need the armor, I wonder if it could be worked into other textiles and uses.”

“Will you… keep him on Crydor then?” Sven seemed hesitant, and a bit hopeful.

“Maybe.” She bit her lip. “I don’t know- there's mines of crydon there, and its certainly cold. But, um, how long have you stayed there at once?”

“About six weeks. Um, not with Cavo though- I’ve never even taken him overnight before.” Good, one more thing you didn’t do completely wrong on.

“Perhaps I’ll set up some sort of home there, Cavo can spend some time there, but also at various hospitals and at home.”

“Wait, do you mean… split custody?” his face fell a bit.

“What? No, no, I would stay on crydor with him, I- do you think spilt custody would be better?”

“No! uh, no, I don’t know. Not if you weren’t thinking of it, though… I would still like to be able to see him, sometimes.” He sounded so hopeless.

“I wasn’t going to even try to keep him from you.” Romelle said honestly. Sven’s face slowly lit up. “It seems to me your… poor choices weren’t anything close to being a bad father- just a bad husband and friend.” That was true, though she tried to make it comforting. And harsh. Because she still didn’t know how she felt, dang it all.

Sven just nodded though.

They stayed in another bout of silence a while. Finally, Romelle couldn’t take it anymore. She stood up. “I think we both need time alone to process and figure out what we both want and need, and what Cavo needs. I’ll tell the Force they can come in.” he nodded and Romelle walked over to him, she grabbed his arm. “Hey. I love you. I’m still pissed as hell and I don’t know what will happen, but I do love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I know.” She let his arm fall, then left. A bit further down the hall, she saw Lance.

“Hey, McClain.” She called, walking towards him. He lowered his Voltcom, looking up at her.

“Hey Romelle. Uh, how did it go?”

“I don’t know. Where’s Allura and Lamina?”

“Right through here, Princess.” He guided her around a curve. “So, will you be staying longer in the castle? Allura was wondering, she wanted to get you a room.”

“Ah, yeah, I’ll probably at least say here tonight. Um, I know where a small suite Cavo and I can stay in is, I'll ask someone and get it ready. Thanks.”

He nodded, but his eyes were sharp, and she knew he had noted that she hadn’t said anything about Sven in their suite.

Her thoughts were distracted by seeing Lamina and Allura, with her son. They were cooing at him as he played on a blanket on the floor, and she noticed that the two boys were sneaking looks and smiles at him too. So was Keith, though he looked more often at her cousin.

Casting all of those thoughts aside, she called out to Allura.

“You can all go in there now if you want.” She sat down, reaching to tickle her baby. He caught site of her and laughed, arms reaching to be picked up. She obliged, letting him calm her, focusing on how he was here, safe, and so was she.

And so was Sven.

They were all alright. Maybe not everything was ok right now, but it would be, someday.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyway vf sven is an idiot. but I love him, and so does romelle. I left this one more open because due to romelle... not exsisting in the show its hard to get a feel of her character. so yeah, I don't know how long it take them to work this out because 1- its a big deal, 2- they have to cure two people of haggarium, 3- the show ended before anything could be resolved there.
> 
> also, raise your hand if you are bitter about how they somehow gave Allura a niece and Sven a kid without literally any mention of Pollux's royal family? like.... Sven's (nameless, btw) kid had to come from somewhere, and gven allura is an only child... yeah, I'm bitter.
> 
> Any other ideas for realities, or aus, or whatnot? I know there are some voltron comics out there, but I couldn't really find any and I ont know how the sven and romelle stuff happens in them. if you have an idea telllll meeeeee pleeeaaasseeee I love this stupid ship and I will read a hundred fics for them if I have to write them all myself, dang it.
> 
> Oh, and another chapter for my other voltron fic should be up soon, as well as the first one for a fic exploring the guns!reality because i had a lot of fun with akira, sven, and romie.

**Author's Note:**

> Part two of this fic will be in chapter three, because I'm quite proud of my stupid V84 fic and I hope to trick some more people into reading it.  
> So, how do you like Romie? I might make a oneshot comp later about her past and life, but I don't think it'll be in this one, cuz ErErEr focuses on the ships. well, one ship.


End file.
